Chapter 45
A lot happened in the Forest of Life.
Dealing with intruders, strengthening the dungeon, and all sorts of other stuff?
Anyway, where there is a meeting, there is also parting.
Leaving the branded elves' homeland behind, Dreamland had settled in a new place: Fire Forge.
To put it simply, Dreamland had gone through a relocation cycle and dropped near the dwarves' city.
Dwarves were dwarves, exactly as I'd known them.
A race of short, beer-loving muscle pigs—stubborn and tough.
Like humans, the dwarves had several city-states and the like, and Fire Forge was the dwarven nation settled in the frigid north.
Something I've felt since becoming a dungeon master, though.
It felt pretty strange to actually see a race that should only exist in my imagination.
Well, that still didn't change the fact that they were dungeon rapists who'd come to violate my dungeon.
They were guys I'd have to deal with to my heart's content for a while.
Their faction was huge by any standard, and even individual combat power was impressive, so under normal circumstances I'd have been whining in the gallery about how scary they were.
But Dreamland was repelling the dwarves with unprecedented ease.
.
.
.
.
.
【Memory Cat (★4)】
【Price : 150,000P】
【Tags : Anomaly, Immortal, Closing, Untrainable】
【This minion activates when intruders escape from the dungeon.】
【This minion cannot act during the half day when the entrance is open.】
【It erases intruders' memories. The range of erasure covers the moment they entered the dungeon until the moment they leave it—that is, every moment they spent inside the dungeon.】
【...】
【...】
.
.
.
【Ink Rat (★4)】
【Price : 150,000P】
【Tags : Anomaly, Immortal, Closing, Untrainable】
【This minion activates when intruders escape from the dungeon.】
【This minion independently identifies information about the dungeon's traps or minions written by an intruder. The same applies even if it's written in cipher.】
【This minion can manipulate a certain portion of the information intruders enter about the dungeon.】
【The information this minion can manipulate includes pictures, text, photos, and video records.】
【...】
【...】
.
.
.
It was all thanks to this Tom-and-Jerry duo.
Memory erasure and information manipulation.
No matter how I think about it, this is ridiculously overpowered.
It's the kind of tool that can make intruders doubt the information they risked their lives to gather.
Without memories, you don't know what happened inside the dungeon.
In that case, the only thing you can infer from is the information the intruder wrote by hand, but what if even that can be manipulated?
Thanks to these two minions, Dreamland had become an even nastier dungeon, if I do say so myself.
From here on out, I imagine the Blessed Ones will have a pretty rough time too.
Of course, I'm not claiming it's invincible.
To truly be invincible, you'd have to make every bit of information intruders gather meaningless.
It couldn't block information leaks completely, and the parts the Ink Rat could touch were only limited.
Even so, that's enough.
At least, that's what I think.
For reference, the 'some part' I mean here is closer to the meaning of a concept than to the amount of information, like character count, so let me give an example.
─────
4. Sometimes insect men board it, but you should ignore them.
▼
4. Sometimes insect men board it, and you have to fight and beat them.
─────
So the Ink Rat can manipulate information in roughly that kind of way, huh?
Let's say an intruder realizes the information is being manipulated.
Suppose they think, 'It only changes a tiny bit, right? Then wouldn't it be better to write a super long piece of info?' and write a 5,700-character wall of text.
─────
4. If you stay still, the insect men do not attack the intruder. They probably don't have very good eyesight and can't spot intruders inside the elevator. If you stay still, the insect men inspect the intruder's body from head to toe before disappearing into the unlit corridor.
▼
4. Sometimes insect men board it, and you have to fight and beat them.
─────
It gets 'condensed' and changed like that.
So that the minion and trap information doesn't contradict itself.
In other words, the Ink Rat's 'can manipulate a certain portion of it' doesn't mean 'it changes part of the text the intruder wrote.'
It's closer to 'it can manipulate part of the very concept of the rules of the anomaly' that intruders record.
As I said before, it can't manipulate all information.
Probably some of the information intruders carry out will be correct.
But let's think about that for a second.
Say an intruder takes out the correct information that says, 'You must not go out into the corridor without lights.'
But what if, under that assumption, they also took out the false information that 'the elevator is for multiple people'?
Crunch, crunch.
Watching their companions get crushed to pieces.
Would intruders really be able to trust that information completely?
Well, I can't guarantee there aren't any imperfections at all.
The information the Ink Rat can manipulate is definitely limited.
Still, downgrading the 'answer' into nothing more than a 'hint' is undeniably huge.
Intruders may be able to somewhat anticipate the anomalies they'll face from here on out, but...
The important thing is that anomalies uncovered through repeated expeditions can be reused.
I think they're excellent minions.
If someone asked me whether I like country rats or city rats better.
I'd proudly say, 'I like the Ink Rat, you bitch.'
─────
Title : The results are in for the vote on which dungeon intruders hate to clear the most.
Author : Orange★
1st – Dreamland
2nd – Wallachia
3rd – Ant Nest
...
...
There's no particular reward, though.
Congratulations on being selected.
This is a tremendous honor.
If even we think that way, imagine how the intruders feel?
I hope it keeps that same shitty energy until it gets picked as a dungeon the Blessed Ones avoid ㅇㅇ
─────
.
.
.
MyOnlyNoMinions: I always thought, while hanging around the gallery, that the most horrifying thing was getting brainwashed by vampires??
ㄴMyOnlyNoMinions: I thought Love Dungeon, the one that makes you kill your own comrades with your own hands and scream, was the worst piece of shit dungeon, and I believed that in my heart would never change...
ㄴMyOnlyNoMinions: But this time, that changed ㅇㅇ
ㄴMyOnlyNoMinions: @Newbie, just die ㅇㅇ, seriously.
ㄴMyOnlyNoMinions: I was already furious that the magic-sword anomaly I'd trained my whole life for wouldn't even work on it, and now you're saying it can manipulate even the information you bring back at the cost of your memories and your life????
ㄴMyOnlyNoMinions: If I were an intruder, I wouldn't enter Newbie's dungeon.
ㄴMyOnlyNoMinions: I'd just keep living by doing my work diligently ㅇㅇ
Golem King: Honestly, is this what they call sunk cost??
ㄴGolem King: I feel like everyone goes in thinking a newborn dungeon should be manageable lol
ㄴGolem King: Once you lift the veil, there's always only hell underneath.
ㄴGolem King: If I were an intruder, I'd seriously hate it lol
DIP: Dreamland really is the most fucked-up dungeon lol
ㄴMagic Hero: S-s-s-honestly, I think it's the height of unfairness...
ㄴAnt Queen: It feels like you're the only one dropped into a different world ㅇㅇ
ㄴAnt Queen: But to think even forgetfulness can be caused as an anomaly...
ㄴAnt Queen: Just what on earth are you, Newbie-nim? ㅋㅎ
ㄴAnonymous Butcher: You're an unusual case in every possible way.
ㄴAnonymous Butcher: Personally, I think you're basically a bug.
ㄴNewbie: ㅠㅠ...
ㄴAnonymous Butcher: Not that I'm insulting you, of course...
Ssiggan Saranggae: Come to think of it, why did Newbie become a dungeon master at this timing?
ㄴSsiggan Saranggae: Anyone have a guess why?
ㄴTVHead: I'm looking into it personally, but
ㄴTVHead: Even my supercomputer is having a hard time figuring it out ㅇㅇ
ㄴSkull Bones: Isn't it actually an ENIAC, not a supercomputer lol?
ㄴTVHead: Do you want to die?
ㄴSsiggan Saranggae: Actually, I can roughly guess the reason.
ㄴMental Hospital Chief Patient: What is it???
ㄴSkull Bones: For real?
ㄴMagic Hero: R-r-r-r-really?
ㄴNight Crow: D-d-d-d...
ㄴPlatoonHead: What the fuck is it
ㄴKongKong: You're killing me here, so please tell me already, fuck.
ㄴOrange★: What is it??? If it's a lie, it's a one-hour ban, so if you don't know, just honestly say you don't know ㅇㅇ
ㄴSsiggan Saranggae: Hoo... I didn't expect to have to say this here... It's embarrassing, but I'll say it once!
ㄴSsiggan Saranggae: Actually, based on my long observation, I did some deduction.
ㄴSsiggan Saranggae: No matter how I think about it, I think there's only one answer.
ㄴSsiggan Saranggae: Newbie was born into this world to love me, and this is a fate set by the God of Forgetfulness, and even a god can't defy......
-Temporarily banned user-
.
.
.
I guess you'd call it a dungeon Gal Cup.
On Dungeon Gallery, they hold periodic votes in the form of various TOP 10 lists and the like.
This time, Dreamland was chosen as the No. 1 shittiest dungeon in the world. In glorious fashion, no less.
Even though I'm still low-level compared to the veterans, and the number of devices is still pretty small.
When you're gaming, the most infuriating situation isn't meeting an overwhelmingly strong enemy, but meeting one who plays like complete shit.
I was the kind of bastard who played the game like shit.
I don't need to become the strongest dungeon in the world.
The goal I'm aiming for is to make the dungeon people least want to enter in this world.
So I could say I'm doing pretty well toward my goal, even getting picked in that vote.
But the enemies are catching Newbie's horny scent and desperately hoping to become intruders themselves, so I still have a long way to go.
Newbie: But the dwarves' obsession is also pretty damn abnormal...
ㄴPlatoonHead: Hell yeah, looks like we'll get to watch the live run a lot for a while, jackpot lololol
ㄴMagic Hero: F-F-Fire Forge is basically city-state level, so...
Maybe because we landed in the dwarves' city.
They're the biggest faction of intruders we've faced so far.
They got completely wrecked in front of the elevator in the first wave, the second wave, and even the third wave, though.
Hmm, I had a feeling the dwarves wouldn't give up mana stones easily.
Dwarves are different from the enemies I'd dealt with until now.
They're the kind who can die whenever their leader orders them to, so they're definitely not ordinary.
I'd better be careful for a while.
Newbie: But, bros, is it really true those Blessed-One bastards can't use the gallery inside the dungeon????
ㄴOrange★: ㅇㅇ If you turn 'Community Settings OFF' in system settings, they also can't use the gallery inside the dungeon.
ㄴOrange★: If you don't believe me, click the link and take a look.
ㄴOrange★: It's hilarious how they keep moving their fingers all over the air, and the moment they turn connection OFF, they stop doing it lol
...
...
***
【3rd Raid Results】
【Writer: Chase】
Number entering: 12
Exploration result: 11 dead, commander survived, 1 escape scroll consumed.
▼ I
We sent out the 3rd raid party, but there was no major gain.
Judging from the surviving commander's journal, it seems they were blocked by the suspicious machine called the 'elevator,' just like the 2nd raid party.
The 3rd raid party entered with a strategy guide.
There was definitely an explanation about the elevator in the guide.
Then why was the 3rd raid party blocked at the elevator?
The commander of this raid party also kept a journal.
Since anyone raiding Dreamland loses all memories of being inside the dungeon the moment they escape, documenting the information they discovered was essential.
The contents of the journal are ordinary.
They walk along a white corridor and are blocked in front of the elevator.
And the raid party begins investigating using the guide.
However.
Compared to the 2nd raid party commander's journal, there is one clearly bizarre point.
▼ Commander's Journal
P.01
The mood in the raid party was generally good.
It was an unknown dungeon, but all the members were full of determination.
Thanks to the sacrifice of the 2nd raid party, we learned how to crack this dungeon.
We have to do well so their sacrifice won't be in vain.
The elevator is right in front of us.
We steeled ourselves.
P.02
One of the raiders died.
What problem had arisen during the previous expedition?
We had no choice but to begin investigating again.
The elevator is definitely for multiple people.
We just confirmed it.
It’s safer to ride it with several people.
That way, we'll be able to deal with the insect men when we fight them.
...
...
P.03
Therefore, the information we uncovered at the risk of our lives is as follows.
1. The machine is called an elevator. We have to use it to reach the next area.
2. The elevator is for multiple people, and to ensure smooth exploration, as many people as possible should ride it.
3. Never go out into the corridor without lights.
4. Sometimes insect men board it, and you have to fight and beat them.
.
.
.
.
.
Chase stopped writing for a moment.
Because the situations recorded in the journal were contradictory.
If they had the strategy guide and that information was true.
The party should have cracked the elevator and headed to the next area.
But in the end, the party couldn't advance past the elevator.
I thought that was extremely strange.
"Ha, now that I look at it, the handwriting is different……"
Chase found the decisive piece of evidence.
He started moving his pen busily again.
His eyes began to blaze like a flame feared by the cold.
He had unraveled Dreamland's mystery.
He had to tell the mayor this as soon as possible. "}
notes":"Adjusted the chapter title to match the nearby established format: Dwarf (2). Fixed a few naturalness issues, including 'muscle pigs' hyphenation, 'sunk cost,' and the line about the mayor. Preserved the intentional humor and repeated punctuation/ellipsis patterns, with no accidental repeated-word errors found beyond source-driven style."}']}]}]}］】}】】}}}】}]}]}]}】}]}】}】}]}】} {
})}